Two brothers suspected of theft lynched next to police station
According to the police, the two were lynched on suspicion of stealing a phone.
What you need to know:
- According to the police, the two were lynched on suspicion of stealing a phone.
- But the accounts of eyewitnesses contradicted the statement issued by the police.
Two brothers were on Tuesday night lynched on the outskirts of Thika town on suspicion of snatching a phone from a pedestrian.
The two brothers - aged 19 and 21 years - were killed a short distance from Makongeni Police Station.
Residents who witnessed the incident said two officers on patrol fled after they were threatened by the angry mob.
According to Thika West Sub County Police Commander Laurence Muchangi, the victim of the theft screamed and a mob swiftly responded, subjecting the two to mob justice.
“A man was walking home when from the darkness emerged two agile youths, who mugged him and made away with his phone. But the man struggled and screamed as he was being mugged,” Mr Muchangi said.
The screams attracted neighbours and within no time the two assailants who were escaping from the scene on foot were captured, beaten and set ablaze.
“The incident took less than 10 minutes and our officers who responded to the commotion encountered a hostile mob. Before we could enforce crowd control tactics, the two suspects had died,” he said.
But the accounts of eyewitnesses contradicted Mr Muchangi’s statement. According to the witnesses, one of the brothers had come out to defend the other in a street brawl.
The 10pm incident at Kisii Estate, according to Mr Joseph Kasyoki 51, involved a middle-aged man who was fighting with a youngster.
“The two were fighting on the streets...the youngster was getting a beating from the older man... he screamed calling out a name. Moments later another youngster emerged from nearby plots,” Mr Kasyoki said.
He added that the two youths joined forces and started beating up the man who in turn shouted for help, claiming that he was being robbed.
“That is when a mob gathered, got hold of the two brothers, gave them a thorough beating before setting their bodies ablaze. The deaths were as a result of a quarrelsome man picking a fight with a youth and then manipulating the mob to murder on his behalf,” he said.
Mr Muchangi said the badly mutilated bodies of the two brothers were taken to General Kago Hospital mortuary.
“An inquest into their deaths will be conducted and all those with useful information can come forward with it. There is no crime committed by a mob, there are those who are individually culpable,” he said.
Mr Muchangi urged members of the public to embrace the rule of law to save the society too many cases of distress occasioned by bereavement.
“Whether the incident involving street brawl or a robbery, both are criminal in nature. Abiding by the law helps social engineering,” Mr Muchangi said.
He termed the incident as distressing “given that the two deceased are brothers, young men who had all the time to get it right in their lives but are now gone in a manner that will hit their family hard."
He said the bodies will be subjected to postmortem examination as investigations continue.
